Barclays share price rises as it sets aside £500m to pay regulators over foreign exchange probe October 30, 2014 Are Barclays' regulatory woes about to reach a conclusion? Investors seemed confident this morning – the bank's share price opened 1.6 per cent higher as it revealed it has put aside £500m in the face of ongoing investigations into Foreign Exchange practices. Barclays is not the only bank to have made such provisions: HSBC and [...]
Capita share price falls after losing out on probation deals to Interserve and Sodexo October 29, 2014 Outsourcing company Capita yesterday suffered its worst one-day fall in six years after it lost out on £450m worth of government probation contracts. It shed 75p a share to close down nearly 6.5 per cent after justice secretary Chris Grayling named Interserve and Sodexo among the preferred bidders for 21 probation services contracts, but overlooked [...]
Standard Life share price dips as annuities drop but revenues rise October 29, 2014 Insurer Standard Life stated yesterday that it was well placed to deal with changes to UK pension laws, despite reporting a 55 per cent reduction in annuity sales for the year to date (YTD). Annuity sales were down 67 per cent for the third quarter of 2014 when compared with the same period of last [...]
Alliance Trust cuts managers in savings drive October 29, 2014 Alliance Trust yesterday revealed it was cutting five fund managers as part of a plan to save £2m per year. The investment manager reported total shareholder returns of 2.1 per cent in the third quarter, putting it in the top half of the sector. The firm, headed by chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox, said the changes to [...]
London buses help Stagecoach drive up revenue by 14 per cent October 29, 2014 London bus contracts have boosted revenue at Stagecoach by 14.5 per cent, the company said in a trading update yesterday. Revenue grew across the board, with UK rail providing the second biggest contribution at 7.4 per cent in the six months to mid-October this year. Overall, the bus and rail company said in a statement, [...]
What is Nimbuzz? Ashmore Group’s Jerome Booth set to battle WhatsApp with new messanger app October 29, 2014 The City’s favourite emerging markets evangelist Jerome Booth has er, re-emerged, having been relatively quiet since he stepped down as head of research at Ashmore Group last summer. What’s he up to, I hear you ask? Aside from sporting this fetching turban, he’s been on the acquisition trail with New Call Telecom, one of the [...]
Sky gets down with the kids by backing Whistle Sports October 29, 2014 Sports TV giant Sky yesterday ramped up its drive to attract a younger audience by taking a stake in online channel Whistle Sports. Sky will invest $7m (£4.3m) in the venture, founded by serial entrepreneur and Harvard business graduate John West, and work with Whistle to develop new programmes and ideas. The channel, which is [...]
Riverstone Energy share price rises as firm reveals $13m profit in third quarter one year after IPO October 29, 2014 Shares in Riverstone Energy rose by 1.5 per cent yesterday after its third quarter results revealed a $13.4m (£8.3m) profit. Riverstone stated that it had assessed numerous potential exploration, production and midstream investments since last October, with nine made so far. Pierre Lapeyre, co-founder of Riverstone, commented: “While all nine investments are still in their [...]
Antofagasta targets unchanged by poor quarterly production October 29, 2014 Mining firm Antofagasta maintained yesterday that it is on track to meet its 2014 production target despite production tumbling across the board in the first nine months of year. Gold production saw the biggest decrease at 64,700 ounces, a decline of 18.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2013. The company attributed this [...]
Slower world economic growth hits Standard Chartered hard October 28, 2014 INVESTORS fled emerging markets-focused bank Standard Chartered yesterday after it reported a sharp fall in profits for the third quarter. The bank had racked up 10 consecutive years of record profits, coming through the financial crisis in strong form because of its focus in Asia and Africa, rather than the western world. But that has left [...]